Advanced Geographical Expedition - Iceland
2012

In June 2012 24 human geography, physical
geography and tourism students spent three weeks on the Advanced
Geographical Expedition to Iceland accompanied by four staff
members and Antony Jinman from 'Education through Experience,' a
not-for-profit organisation that links expedition activities with
school learning.

Advanced fieldwork

Iceland presents a challenging fieldwork
environment to undertake studies not normally possible in the UK
including:

Glacier dynamics and landforms

Thufur characteristics

Tephra stratigraphy

Settlements

Economy and land use in a marginal environment

As well as underpinning the assessments
linked to the module, the fieldwork has inspired dissertation and
PhD projects. Two students who attended the 2010 expedition won
funding from the Royal Geographical Society and returned to Iceland
in 2011 to work on a river project. Both students are now pursuing
PhDs.

Expedition highlights

Hiking to the site of the 2010 volcanic eruption
(Eyafeadlejorkull)walking on or within touching distance of recent
ash, lava, and glacier ice.

Walking into the caldera of Askja, site of older
eruptions.

Swimming in the crater lake at Viti.

Learning how power and hot water is provided by geothermal heat
and how Iceland has more energy than it can use or export, but has
plans to utilise all its glacial rivers with the consequence that
there may be no glacial rivers left unmodified.

Hiking around a small section of Europe’s largest ice cap, the
Vatnajokull, while other students surveyed the glacial landforms at
the snout.

Driving through lava fields and the desert to get to
Vatnajokull and Askja.

Visiting a horse farm in Varmilidadh to learn about Icelandic
horses and how they have been vital to Iceland’s settlement and
economy.

Investigating the geomorphology of the black sanded beach and
dunes, and emerging cliffs of the Arctic Ocean shore, dodging the
anxious kias and hearing stories of the appearances of famished
Greenland polar bears carried here on ice flows.

Our main base in Northern Iceland was in the Bardardalur Valley
at a community-run centre called Kidagil. Here students enjoyed
genuine Icelandic hospitality, played football and even tried
Icelandic wrestling.

Connecting the expedition to the school classroom

The work of the students and staff in
Iceland is being used to link Bristol school pupils with explorers
and their experience, bringing the exotic into the classroom. This
is being achieved in partnership with the not-for-profit company
Education
Through Expeditions (ETE).

The expedition and fieldwork completed by
UWE geography students is made available to schools via the
ETE web
platform. This supports activities, lectures, 'Ask The Expert'
forums and even live discussions with expedition members whilst
they are out in the field. This realises a mutual benefit of
helping UWE undergraduates to develop career-relevant science
communication and organisational skills, whilst providing access to
a resource and experience beyond the reach of most schools.